LIVERPOOL -- Martin Skrtel is to be taken to hospital after he was stretchered off in Liverpool's 0-0 FA Cup quarterfinal draw against Blackburn, although Brendan Rodgers is confident the defender escaped serious injury.
Liverpool are taking precautions after Skrtel landed on his head following an aerial challenge with Blackburn striker Rudy Gestede, causing an eight-minute delay to play.
The Slovakia international was substituted but gave a thumbs-up sign to fans as he was carried off, and Rodgers revealed he was behaving normally after the final whistle.
"He is fine but he will go to the local hospital to make sure," Rodgers told a news conference. "If he had his choice, he wouldn't but we have to follow procedure. He was fine, up walking and talking after the game, but as a precaution we need to make sure he is OK.
"He fell heavily so there was a feeling he could have been knocked out or concussed but I'll leave that to the medical experts."
Rodgers said his team should have had a penalty against Blackburn following Matt Kilgallon's first-half challenge on Adam Lallana, but added that his side were not at their best.
"I thought that was a clear penalty. It was a great move and he [Lallana] got his body between the man and the ball and as he went to shoot he was knocked over," Rodgers said.
"We probably needed that bit of luck to get the game opened up. The physical and mental energy we put into games is at such a high level. Today we just lacked that bit of sharpness physically. It affected the speed of our play. Unfortunately we couldn't get the result. It wasn't to be."
Rodgers said he is optimistic Liverpool will prosper in the replay at Ewood Park, adding: "We have to go to Blackburn and win but we are certainly capable of that. The objective in this game was to make sure we were in the hat for the semifinal. We didn't quite win it but we are still in there."
Blackburn manager Gary Bowyer hailed his team for a "magnificent" effort and felt his tactics worked well.
He told a news conference: "Full credit to the players, they were magnificent and restored a bit more pride. They worked ever so hard and every one of them put a shift in. Our lads will need a long time to recover, the amount they have run. We carried out the gameplan to a tee."
Blackburn captain Kilgallon was quick to insist the home side did not deserve a penalty for his challenge on Daniel Sturridge.
He said: "No, no, no, no. You have got to be tight to him. You give him a yard and he's got that shot with no back-lift. Maybe when I did give him that yard, he has got the shot off. You have got to be tight to these players and that's what I was."
Things might have been worse for Liverpool had it not been for a fine 49th-minute save by keeper Simon Mignolet to claw Alex Baptiste's header out of the top corner.
Baptiste said: "I was free at the corner. They mark zonally and I thought it was in, to be honest."
Information from the Press Association was used in this report